When I bought Buttercup the Tractor, I liked that it was a pure diesel machine - no electronics. I had heard too many stories of tractors with electronics getting bricked because a chip burned out.
I did not want to pay a couple hundred bucks to replace some hermetically sealed module when it was a 25¢ Integrated Circuit that was at fault.
Now, it seems that we do not even own the modules - from Consumerist:
John Deere Wants To Be Able To File Copyright Claims Against The Way You Use Your Tractor
In the modern, digital economy, there are a whole lot of things you buy but still technically don’t own. Nearly all entertainment, for example: digital books, video games, music, and so on. Other software, too. But as basically everything continues to become some kind of computer in a specialized body, plenty of other goods are starting to be subject to licensing, copyright law, and non-ownership problems, too. Like tractors.
Famous farming machinery company John Deere is making the case that you don’t own your vehicles, Wired reports this week. In filings with the copyright office (PDF), the maker of the ubiquitous green and yellow tractor argues that because your tractor has a chip and some code in it, you don’t actually own it. You’ve just got an “implied license for the life of the vehicle to operate the vehicle.”
I am sorry but this is FUBAR - F**ked Up Beyond All Recognition. I will never buy a new John Deere product and am a very happy Kubota owner (two large pieces of equipment and a generator).